Home cooks aren't the only ones who skip these traditional dishes at their peril. When we asked around at some of the professional kitchens of Ventura County, we discovered that local chefs and restaurateurs also have must-make dishes in their family trees. And some even involve mini marshmallows.

ALBERTO VAZQUEZ: HARVEST SALAD

"Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's the warmest feeling, with no Santa Claus, no gifts, just family," said Alberto Vazquez, chef and owner of the Thousand Oaks-based food truck Rock Chef Rolls.

Vazquez grew up in Santa Barbara, where his father, Joe Vazquez, was chef at Harry's Plaza Cafe. Although the elder Vazquez often had to work on holidays, the younger recalls spending many a Thanksgiving playing outside with neighbors until the sage-and-butter smell of the Thanksgiving turkey lured him indoors.

Before hitting the road with his food truck early this year, Alberto Vazquez was best known as executive chef at Mediterraneo at the Westlake Village Inn. But his go-to Thanksgiving recipe for Harvest Salad predates that gig.

"This has been in my arsenal since I was at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica in the late '90s. Now we can't have a Thanksgiving without it," Vazquez said.

"Sometimes I add butternut squash and currants. You can go nuts with the nuts and add different dried fruits if you like. There's a reason we also call it the Everything But the Kitchen Sink Salad," he added with a laugh.

Variations on the Harvest Salad are on the Thanksgiving menu Vazquez is making for home-delivery clients, and during occasional appearances by the Rock Chef Rolls truck at The WineYard in Thousand Oaks and at Surf Brewery in Ventura. (Information: http://www.rockchefrolls.com).

2. Add the cheese, nuts and assorted fruits. Drizzle with about two-thirds of the balsamic vinaigrette and toss gently to coat.

3. Arrange endive leaves around the edge of a serving platter. Place tossed salad in the center, digging to the bottom of the bowl to make sure you get an even distribution of the cheese, nuts and fruit that will have settled there.

4. Garnish salad with the blackberries and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the top, paying special attention to any areas that don't have much fruit or dressing.

NOTE: Want to poach your own pears? Here's how Vazquez does it: Peel, core and cut each fruit in half. Combine ½ cup water with 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup of white wine in a sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil on the stove top. Add the fruit and cook just until you can easily push a toothpick into the flesh.

Likewise, want to make your own balsamic vinaigrette? Vazquez prefers a white balsamic for this salad, the better to show off the varied colors of the ingredients. In a blender, combine 1 minced shallot, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 ounces white balsamic, a pinch of salt and the juice of 1 orange and the juice of 1 lemon. Blend. With the blender running, gradually add about cup of oil consisting of about 75 percent grapeseed or canola oil to 25 percent extra virgin olive oil. When blended, transfer to a squeeze bottle fitted with a small tip, the better to place dollops of dressing precisely where you want them on the plated salad, said Vazquez.

CANDACE HILGER: ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFING

As executive chef at the newly opened Twenty88 Food & Drink in Old Town Camarillo, Candace Hilger has spent the past few weeks perfecting dishes ranging from sweet potato gnocchi to panko-crusted crab cakes.

But when Thanksgiving rolls around, she'll follow family tradition by whipping up a batch of Italian Sausage Stuffing. The recipe belongs to her mother, Autumn Hilger of Camarillo, but is best known for the way her late paternal grandmother used to make it.

"We have a saying: That if Grandma Maggie knew we were using a knife to cut the bread and an oven to dry it out, she'd roll over in her grave," Hilger said.

"It's a conversation we have every year. Because, although she was very specific about tearing the bread by hand, we always wind up taking the shortcuts," Hilger added with a laugh. (Twenty88 Food & Drink is at 2088 Ventura Blvd., Camarillo. Call 388-2088.)

2. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. Add the onions, garlic, celery and seasonings and cook until the onions turn translucent. Remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3. Cook the ground sausage in the same sauté pan. When cooked, transfer the sausage to the onion mixture in the bowl, reserving the fat.

4. Tear the bread into 1-inch pieces by hand. Add to the onion-sausage mixture and toss. Transfer to a casserole dish, cover with foil and bake for about 90 minutes or until the bread and onions have thoroughly softened.

5. If the mixture seems overly dry, pour up to 1 cups of chicken stock over the top.

6. About 30 minutes before serving, put the uncovered casserole back into the oven to crisp on top.

TIM KILCOYNE: CRANBERRY RELISH ...

Chef and restaurateur Tim Kilcoyne is known for showcasing Ventura County-grown ingredients at The SideCar Restaurant and The Local Cafe, both in midtown Ventura.

He makes an exception for this holiday dish, for which both the recipe and the main ingredient come from longtime family friends who farm 30 acres of cranberry bogs near Coos Bay, Oregon.

"It goes back a few generations," Kilcoyne said of the recipe. "Someone has to make it every year, or something just doesn't feel right." (The SideCar Restaurant is at 3029 E. Main St., Ventura; call 653-7433. The Local Cafe is at 1751 E. Main St., Ventura; call 643-0237.)

1. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.

NANCY SAMUELS: VEGAN-FRIENDLY STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

Nancy Samuels is the owner and chef of Hip Vegan Cafe in Ojai, where patrons line up for date shakes made with fresh cashew milk and for quiches baked in spelt and cornmeal crusts.

Samuels also adheres to a raw-food diet, which means that the meals she prepares for herself tend to feature uncooked fruits and vegetables.

Not so the stuffed seasonal squash dish she bakes every Thanksgiving for partner Rick Genstil, a fellow vegan.

"He went through a period where he asked for a Tofurky instead, but then he realized that these were so much better," Samuels said with a laugh.

The recipe that follows is merely a general guideline for home cooks, she added.

"You could use quinoa or millet instead of the rice. You could add bits of red pepper, or swap toasted pine nuts for the cashews. Last year, Trader Joe's had these shelled and steamed chestnuts that I used instead of the cashews, and they were fantastic," Samuels said. (Hip Vegan Cafe is at 928 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai. Call 646-1750.)

1. Place acorn squashes on a baking sheet and bake whole in a 400-degree oven for about an hour. ("Why risk losing a finger trying to cut them in half raw? This is much safer," said Samuels.)

2. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

3. Cook the rice according to instructions on the packaging. When done, set aside at room temperature rather than refrigerating. ("The cold can cause the grains to harden," Samuels said.)

4. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the garlic, shallots, ginger and onions and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir to combine. Add the tamari and cook just until the mushrooms begin to soften. Add the nuts and remove from heat.

5. Combine the rice with the mushroom mixture and season to taste with the pepper. Set aside. (If the mixture seems dry, add a little shoyu, another type of brewed soy sauce, said Samuels.)

6. Cut the cooled acorn squashes in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds but leave the flesh intact. Fill with the mushroom-rice mixture. Cover each squash half with a piece of foil, return to the baking sheet and bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until squash is soft enough to easily insert a fork.

7. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve with shoyu on the side, if desired.